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East Africa food relief event packs 115,560 meals in Fort Morgan

350-plus volunteers showed up, worked

By Jenni Grubbs

Times Staff Writer

Posted:
08/22/2017 06:38:04 PM MDT

People of all ages, ethnicities and religions were involved in putting together meal packages during the East Africa Relief MobilePack Event held in Fort Morgan. (Anna Bryan / Courtesy East Africa Relief MobilePack Event Facebook page)

By the Numbers

East Africa Relief MobilePack Event held Aug. 11 and 12 in Fort Morgan:

115,560 -total number of meals packed

14 - pallets of boxes of meals to be shipped to East Africa

350 - at least how many volunteers were involved

316 - how many children could have food for one year because of this

$25,000 - amount raised for Feed My Starving Children

The Fort Morgan community recently came together in a big way for hungry kids in Somalia and East Africa, packing a total of 115,560 meals here that now are being sent to that continent by the nonprofit Feed My Starving Children.

Called an East Africa Relief MobilePack Event, more than 350 volunteers showed up to put the meal packages, called MannaPacks, together on Friday, Aug. 11, and Saturday, Aug. 12, according to event organizing committee member Shanna Doughty.

"I think there's a sense of joy at what was accomplished," she said of the impressive number of meals that were put together by the volunteers.

The majority of those volunteers came from Morgan County and included teachers, business owners, church pastors and members, an imam, Islamic school students and many others, Doughty said. Also, helping out was a group of volunteers from a church in Johnstown.

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A group of five Somalis who run a restaurant in Fort Morgan even shut down their business for a night so they could come and pack meals, as did a Somali store owner, Doughty said.

Another couple who volunteered at the event was from Puerto Rico, she said, and they had only been living in Fort Morgan for three months. They said they saw a sign about the MobilePack Event, and they wanted to come and work a bit at it even though they also had other jobs and had to work at those, too.

"They came for a couple hours," Doughty said. "I was just so impressed and encouraged by their generosity."

She said that after witnessing the assembly-line work of putting the meal packages together, she was not sure she could do that sort of work for a living.

"Doing the same motion over and over, it made me see what factory work is like," she said. "I don't think it's work I could do. It gave me an appreciation for the sacrifices (such workers) make."

Two of the volunteers doing that assembly-line work were Ann and Dave Iungerich.

"Dave and I sealed umpteen bags of a combo of vitamins, rice, soy, dried veggies and a dash of love," Ann said afterward. "What a great experience!"

Her sister, Kathy Brasby, was another of the volunteers working at the event.

"Some needy kids will have food now," Brasby said.

Potentially, as many as 316 kids could have food for an entire year with what was packed in Fort Morgan, and that is only a small portion of what Feed My Starving Children will provide through this and similar meal-packing events held across the country.

"What a great night of giving back," volunteer Matthew McClain said of the experience. "Feed My Starving Children has it going on. Their packing event ran smoothly and the packing playlist was on fleek!"

In addition to all the meals that were packed, the event racked up another impressive number: $25,000. That's how much money was raised to cover the costs of all the food and packing supplies for the Fort Morgan event, with some extra even going toward Feed My Starving Children's overall efforts.

"Our goal was $24,000," Doughty said. "But we knew before that we had surpassed that total."

This was the first time a Feed My Starving Children MobilePack Event was held in Fort Morgan, and having the fundraising goal met and event surpassed before one of these events even starts is quite unusual, Doughty said.

"For them to come in and see it's all here, all we have to do is pack, was pretty amazing," she said of the nonprofit's team.

One of the nearly 15 pallets of boxes of meal packages put together at the East Africa Relief MobilePack Event held in Fort Morgan is loaded on this semi and will be shipped overseas by the nonprofit Feed My Starving Children. (Anna Bryan / Courtesy East Africa Relief MobilePack Event Facebook page)

"Many of our sponsors and fundraisers were from local churches," Doughty said. "Their love and faith really pushed through."

In addition to raising extra money, the volunteers were able to pack more meals than expected, since there were both extra supplies available and people there willing to keep working, Doughty said.

"We knew Feed My Starving Children had extra supplies, so we continued to pack," Doughty said of how it worked out.

The original plan was to pack 14 pallets of boxes of meals, but she said they wound up with almost filled 15 pallets.

The volunteers were working in two hour shifts, starting on a Friday afternoon and lasting well into the evening, and then all day and afternoon Saturday.

Each shift was packing "a lot of boxes," she said of the 50 to 90 people who showed up for the shifts. "Even the smallest shift, they were in the groove."

It all happened at the City of Fort Morgan's Fire Station No. 2/Burlington Training Center, and the facility there worked perfectly, Doughty said. She offered "a huge thank you" to the Fort Morgan Fire Department for use of the facility.

"Overall, I think it was very successful," Doughty said. "The team was very excited to see how quickly it came together."

Doughty said it would not have been possible without the local community's willingness to come together for people in need living far, far away.

"People really took ownership of it, and I think that's what makes it so beautiful," she said. "It's an amazing way to actively work toward peace."

And the there was a broad snapshot of the Fort Morgan and larger Morgan County community that got involved in it.

"Man, it was a beautiful thing to see our community come together across ethnic lines, religious lines and work together," Doughty said. "I think our community was ready for it. There's a lot of people who desire to work toward greater understanding and hearing out stories. There's a lot of work that's been done, and this was the culmination. It was an opportunity to act on all the things they've been discussing. I really feel like it was the right time."

What happens next with this will be "up to the community," Doughty said, since the MobilePack Event was "really community driven."

But she said that all of the volunteers left with a flyer that listed various resources and opportunities for further community involvement. Some of the opportunities on that flyer included: donating or volunteering with Rising Up, taking classes or volunteering at the Pop Up Community Center, various activities and events held through OneMorgan County, Fort Morgan Cultures United for Progress and the online housing surveys it is conducting and the Sept. 9 Cargill 5K and Morgan County cultural event.

"We figure that the people who came out are the people who really have a desire to see health and strength in our community," Doughty said.

Volunteers work on putting together the ingredients for MannaPacks, the meals that will be sent by the nonprofit Feed My Starving Children to East Africa. At least 350 volunteers helped put together 115,560 meals over the course of the two days of the East Africa Relief MobilePack Event held in Fort Morgan at Fire Station No. 2. (Anna Bryan / Courtesy East Africa Relief MobilePack Event Facebook page)

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